


Special Blend

by Phandancee74



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Caroline and Bonnie have never met the Salvatores, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Tea Parties, Tea Shop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25136320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phandancee74/pseuds/Phandancee74
Summary: Caroline and Bonnie run a tea shop just outside of New Orleans. Caroline is a vampire who ran away from home after her father tried to kill her. Bonnie is the friend who ran with her.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson
Comments: 16
Kudos: 155





	Special Blend

Caroline and Bonnie have run a tea shop just outside of New Orleans for a few years now. Caroline is a vampire who ran away from home after her father tried to kill her. Bonnie is the friend who followed her with just a little bit of encouragement from her Grams who felt something worse was coming to town. To protect Caroline from her father, Caroline keeps her feeding very minor. At the shop many customers pay in blood, willingly, though they don’t remember the exact transaction outside of their appointments. Their customers come back month after month and soon they have so many that Caroline doesn’t need to compel anyone new. 

Bonnie’s teas are magical. They might provide positive thoughts, happy dreams that start the moment your head hits the pillow, a spring in the step, or the ability to always step on the crunchiest leaf. Whenever a customer comes in they get a free cup of tea made by Bonnie. She gets an idea for exactly what they need and has Caroline prep the ingredients. Caroline manages their finances, once they start actually getting money, and their inventory. They don’t usually do gifts but some customers have started asking. So Bonnie makes more general teas to promote healing of a broken heart, warmth to carry you through a long day, etc. 

Over their time here they’ve attracted the odd magical creature. The shop carries a special line for Werewolves to ease the transformation, Vampires who want to remove the pain of a bite in their victims (something they put into the cup of each of Caroline’s regulars), and Witches who want to connect more deeply to nature. They’ve become friends with all of their customers although a few of them are less forthcoming about their lives and they don't press. Rebekah, a blonde vampire that Bonnie and Caroline can feel the power dripping off of comes by randomly every few months. She tried talking the girls into moving New Orleans once, but it was half hearted, and from what they’ve heard goes on in that city, from what they know her family is into, there’s no way they are getting involved. There’s a good reason Bonnie and Caroline work just outside the city. Bonnie doesn’t want to get involved with the New Orleans covens, and Caroline isn’t going to get pulled into a war between two Vampires who want to be kings. Rebekah had sighed when they straight up refused but told them they were smarter than she was for staying out of things. 

“They’re family though, you know?”

Bonnie and Caroline looked at each other. “We’re most of the family each other has got. My Grams is still up in Mystic Falls and so is her mom.”

Rebekah looked at them hard for a moment then frowned. “Mystic Falls? Shit. We’ve uh, we’ve been up there.”

Bonnie nods. “I know. I’ve heard. But Grams stayed out of it other than to protect Caroline’s mom, she’s the sheriff.”

Rebekah opened her mouth but Caroline shook her head. “I don’t want to hear about it, Becks. It's best to leave it alone. If you go back there just try to keep my mom out of it.”

Rebekah smiled. “I can put the word out to leave your families alone. We got what we needed there. Anyway, I came this time to see what you have to ease pregnancy pains. I’ve got a niece on the way!”

Caroline and Bonnie congratulated her. Bonnie had received a few requests over the years for pregnancy and postpartum teas. “You know I really can’t tailor this to anyone without you bringing them here.”

Rebekah sighed. “Yeah. I’d love to bring her but I think my brothers would throw a fit. Maybe I could bring one of them along?”

Caroline and Bonnie had a policy on how many supernaturals were supposed to be in the place at once, and they usually shut down their store if even one was around. 

“We can bend the rules for you. Bring whoever you need, just call ahead if you can.” 

A few days later Rebekah came with quite the gathering in tow. There was the pregnant werewolf, Hayley, two of Rebekah's brothers, one of her family's own witches, and three hybrids, including someone they recognized from Mystic Falls. 

“Tyler?” Caroline and Bonnie laughed.

“That checks out.” Caroline said. “Tyler Lockwood is a werewolf. Yep.”

Tyler rolled his eyes but allowed a small smile. “Hey Care. Hey Bonnie. Nice shop.”

One of Rebekah’s brothers growled. “No speaking unless spoken to, Lockwood.”

The other brother stepped forward. “Hello, I’m Elijah and this is Hayley. Thank you for the opportunity to come to your shop. I’ve heard wonderful things from my sister.”

Caroline stepped forward, they’d decided before that Bonnie should stay back until she’d seen they were really safe. Not that Caroline could take out this many Originals or that they didn’t trust Rebekah, but this was how the two women had always defended themselves since they fled their hometown. “It’s lovely to meet you both. Why don’t you two sit down there and Bonnie can help you to a cup of tea.”

“Hayley will require more than one cup.” Rebekah’s other brother snarled. "Unless your tea is truly miraculous."

“Of course, but Bonnie does need to do her test so she can make a tea that will best fit Hayley’s needs. We always do a tasting in the shop first, Mr. Mikaelson.” Caroline said brightly. “I will ask that the rest of your people, other than Tyler here I suppose, wait outside. Your witch can sit with Bonnie and the others at the table. I’m afraid your attitude will pollute the tea so you should either come over to the counter or wait outside.”

Few people could get away with talking to Klaus Mikaelson that way, but from the looks on Rebekah and Elijah’s faces, Caroline was currently one of them. Klaus sighed and went to peruse the store, keeping an eye on the table in the other room at all times. Tyler joined Caroline at the counter as she started to pull out some of the ingredients she suspected Bonnie would need and others for a second tea she wanted to make. 

“When was the last time you were in Mystic Falls?” Caroline asked Tyler, aware that every vamp in the store could hear her. There was a dampening spell outside so the vampires could only hear them if someone was shouting in distress. 

“Last week.” Tyler told her. “Why?”

“Next time you’re up there can you give my mom this tea?” Caroline asked. “She works too hard so I usually ship it to her a few times a year from different locations to hide where I am but I’m sure I can trust you to give it to her.” 

Tyler nodded. “What is it?”

“Tea for an easier day. It does little things like make sure that she never picks up a pen that's out of ink or cracks some egg shell into her breakfast. It _would_ work better if she ever came down to visit and let Bonnie calibrate it just for her, but we’ve probably guessed it pretty accurately.” 

Tyler smiled. “Can you make some for my mom too?”

Caroline nodded. “Of course. I’ll let Bonnie decide how much to add of the last two ingredients, everything else just soothes generally, but she has to calibrate the mystical elements. Tell your mom to come by sometime if she ever visits Nola. We’d be happy to see her as long as she won’t say anything to my dad.”

Tyler frowned. “Caroline, your father is dead.”

Caroline could tell that everyone had turned to look at her but this wasn’t a moment to be shared with strangers around. “Oh, I don’t think Grams mentioned that in her last call with Bonnie. Thanks for letting me know.”

“He’s been dead for two years. Ever since-”

Klaus interrupted his hybrid quickly. “Leave the poor woman alone, Lockwood. She just found out her father died.”

Caroline tried to keep her professional voice and face when she responded. “Thank you Mr. Mikaelson but I’m really quite pleased by the news. I can’t tell you what a relief it is knowing I can finally tell my mother where I live. I suppose now I could even visit her. Anyway, Tyler is an old friend, let him talk.”

Klaus had silenced Tyler though, with his earlier instruction. Tyler got up and walked to the other side of the store.

“You aren’t upset about your father?” Klaus asked, slightly interested. Family drama was something he understood and he always enjoyed hearing about it when it wasn’t his own.

“No, though not as harrowing as your own tale, I too was tortured by my father for who I am.” Caroline said and as she looked Klaus right in the eyes, she watched his face grow serious and a flicker of their shared pain was visible to both. “It seems I’ve been hiding without a cause.”

“That won’t cause you to leave now that we need you, will it?” Klaus said, tilting his head as his voice began to indicate a threat. Mutual father issues wasn’t enough to keep him from his usual tricks to get what he wanted.

“No. We’re happy here, thank you for checking." Caroline let the aggression just roll on past her, mentally reminding herself not to engage with him. "Though after today we won’t need to see Haley again until the baby is born maybe not even then. We could provide this service to you from anywhere.”

“So convenient.” Klaus replied, returning to a more casual tone and posture as he watched her work. “Such great service.”

“Just remember to send a more enjoyable family member to pick it up next time.” Caroline said with a sweet tone as she avoided eye contact. “Rebekah is always welcome here and your brother seems a delight too.” with that she turned and walked over to the fire to put the kettle on. They could make tea with an electric kettle but the fire really fit their aesthetic and Bonnie always said that the right mixture of wood smoke affected the overall result. 

Bonnie started to call out what ingredients she’d need and Caroline brought them over on a tray along with the hot water once it was ready.

Caroline went back to finishing tying up the sachets of tea for her mother and prepping a few of Rebekah’s regular blends in case she wouldn’t be able to come back for some time. On a whim Caroline decided to whip up a blend for Klaus. Although usually Bonnie made the tea for a customer the first time, and all of their signature blends, at this point Caroline had a pretty good idea of how to combine everything and she set about making a bag that would teach the big bad original hybrid a lesson. The tea had to be delicious, after all she believed that one should always do their best, but she also wanted to give him a hint of regret that he was such an asshole. She mixed together some of the mystical ingredients that Bonnie used for a nostalgia blend with those from a mediation mix and finished it with an extra strong dose of kick in the ass. She hoped that it would prompt Klaus to be nicer to those around him, but honestly, if tea could do that they would have people busting down their doors. 

By the end of Bonnie’s session with Haley she had two teas for the girl to take, one for morning sickness and the other to nourish the baby’s magic. Caroline put everything together and had Bonnie finish the tea for Tyler’s mother. She put each tea into its own special tin with a small wooden spoon carefully carved with soothing patterns to help the person making the tea mentally focus, and gave the two tins for Hayley to Elijah. When she went to the corner where Tyler had stood for the better part of an hour with the two tins for their mothers Klaus blocked her way. “We didn’t come here for anything for him. What have you got in there?”

Caroline tried _so_ hard not to roll her eyes and failed happily. “I believe you heard my conversation with Tyler, Mr. Mikaelson. These teas are for his mother and mine. Kindly step aside and let me give them to him.”

Klaus was going to hold his ground but Rebekah pulled him aside. “Really, Nik? Must you be like this? She’s trying to do something nice for her mother.”

Caroline moved past him to hand over the tins and spent a moment thanking Tyler then walked back to Rebekah and Klaus. She handed Rebekah her personalized tea and handed the smallest tin she had to Klaus. 

“And what’s this for? Does my daughter need me to drink this so she grows up big and strong?”

Caroline blinked once, processing the information that Klaus, not Elijah, was the father of the baby. “No. Your attitude requires you to drink this to be less of an ass.”

With that she walked away from him again, hearing Rebekah’s laugh behind her. Caroline kept walking until she’d reached the door to their loft, where she and Bonnie lived above the shop. Her rule was if you were downstairs you were professional. She really didn’t want to be professional anymore. Once she got up to her bed she looked out the window. She waved to Tyler and Rebekah and glared, hard, at Klaus. He tipped a nonexistent hat to her and got in his car. She noticed he did still have the tin she gave him.

Bonnie came upstairs a few minutes later. They had decided that after a day with a good chunk of the original family, they were done. 

“What did you put in that tea?” Bonnie asked. Caroline told her and they laughed about it. 

“We should totally start selling tea for people to give to the idiots in their lives who need to get over themselves.”

“We only sell tea that helps people.” Bonnie reminded her.

“It totally would.” Caroline argued. “It really helped me.”

They laughed for a while longer and talked about the bombshell that Tyler had dropped on them.

“You know, if my dad is gone then we could go back to Mystic Falls.” Caroline said.

“If he’s been dead for two years, there’s a reason Grams didn’t tell us, Care.” Bonnie told her. “I mean, I know there are so many things going on up there that you don’t want to hear about but I let Grams tell me. If she kept this from me she doesn’t want us back there.”

“We never really tried that hard to go back, why would they want to keep us away?” Caroline asked.

“Because of Elena.” Bonnie replied. “There’s a lot that’s gone on with her and I think they thought we’d go back for her.”

“More than just her parents dying?” Caroline asked. She’d found out about that part on the day she’d escaped from her father. 

“A lot more.” Bonnie admitted. “Nothing for us to get mixed up with, though. Not when we needed to keep you safe.” 

Caroline was forever glad that Bonnie had come with her after she had escaped, and had often been worried that she had taken over her friend’s life. Bonnie wouldn’t hear about it though. The two took care of each other and that was more than either of them were getting from most of the world. Many of their customers thought the two were romantic partners as well as business partners which made them laugh as they’d long considered themselves sisters. Caroline knew that Bonnie was interested in men and women, and had had the occasional witchy fling on the sly but Caroline hadn’t been interested in anyone, not since the last date she went on turned out to be a trap set by her father to capture her. 

_Caroline had been on her way to a party in the woods, she still didn’t fully know what happened, barely saw her attacker in the dark. She remembered pain and a man saying "Shit. I can't have anyone knowing I was here." When she woke up she’d fed on the next person she saw, killing them. After that, covered in blood and terrified of herself, Caroline hid in a cave, she fell asleep while waiting for the heart beats she could hear so loudly to leave. When she tried to go home the next morning she found she couldn’t leave the cave because the sun burned her. That night she managed to wander close to home and found Matt walking on the street. She almost attacked him, but she’d always had a crush on him and the knowledge that he was a friend, a person she liked, kept her from killing him. Instead she told him everything that happened. He didn’t believe her at first but he did recognize that she had blood on her shirt. He wanted to call her mom to come get her but Caroline convinced him to call Bonnie instead. Bonnie was with her Grams who took the phone away mid sentence and told Caroline to come to her home. Caroline went and Grams explained what was happening to her. She wouldn’t invite Caroline in, but she did tell her that if Caroline could go three nights without killing anyone she would make her a ring that let her walk in daylight. In the meantime Bonnie would think of something to tell the sheriff._

_But Matt had already told the Sheriff, who immediately called her ex husband for advice. He flew in the next day and when Liz wouldn’t agree with his methods to fix or kill their daughter he got Matt to help him. Caroline had lasted two of the three nights she’d promised Grams, and was wandering far in the woods when Matt found her. He asked her to go for a walk with him. When she wouldn’t he told her that he’d broken up with Elena and really wanted to talk to her about it. Caroline’s crush on Matt had only intensified since she’d become a vampire, and she reasoned that she had kept herself from biting him before, she could do it again._

_Matt took her on a walk further away from town, for which Caroline was grateful. He kept walking closer to her, eventually holding her hand. She could hear his heart beating and it made her excited and thirsty in turn. When he asked to kiss her, she tried to tell him they should wait, but he pushed forward. Their kiss was great, everything she'd dreamed of, and lasted for several moments until she blacked out again._

_Caroline woke up tied to a chair, in intense pain. Her father tortured her for several days before her mother was able to figure out what had happened. At first she thought Caroline had run away, but she had suspicions that Sheila Bennet knew more than she was letting on about Caroline once Bonnie had called about an extended sleepover. When she asked point blank if Sheila made a daylight ring for her daughter and convinced her to leave Mystic Falls Sheila said she’d planned to do just that but that Caroline never came back the third night to check in. Liz found Matt and heard what her ex husband had done. With Sheila’s assistance the two women broke in, knocked Bill out, and dragged Caroline to safety as soon as she had the daylight ring on her finger. They hadn’t decided what to do with her yet and brought her to Sheila’s home where she was invited in, for now._

_Bill had woken up and decided the only way to solve the problem was to kill his daughter, since he couldn’t be sure that she hadn’t compelled her mother to defend her. He couldn’t break into Sheila Bennet’s house, but he could lure her granddaughter outside. As soon as Bonnie was in harm’s way, Caroline had come running out to save her friend. Grams came out and brought Bill to his knees, she told him to leave and he took a wild shot, hoping to hit her but accepting any collateral damage. The bullet went wide and would have hit Bonnie but Caroline sped her out of the way. Grams decided the girls weren’t safe there and told Bonnie to run away with Caroline, provided she learned one spell before she went. The spell to give a vampire a migraine. Caroline also insisted Bonnie learn, and practice it on her. Once she’d done it successfully they went to talk to Elena. The girls had been inseparable since childhood and with the changes that had happened for each of them in the past few days Caroline and Bonnie thought she would leave with them. They only gave Elena the news that something had happened and they were in danger in Mystic Falls before asking her to join them. She said she couldn't leave now, she had to be there for Jeremy. After they failed to convince Elena to come with them the girls hit the road. For a few months they bounced around, until Caroline proclaimed she was done with the nomad life. Bonnie found another Bennet to teach her and they decided to set up shop nearby._

_Their tea shop had just been a ruse at first, something to get unsuspecting people to come in to visit Caroline in small groups or alone. She did make them tea, but it wasn’t anything special, not until Bonnie started to mess with some magically enhanced herbs. Within a few months their business was booming and their lives were set._

Since Matt’s betrayal Caroline hadn’t had any romantic partners. That wouldn’t have worked for the old Caroline, but vampire Caroline wasn’t the same person. She could never have handled the life that she and Bonnie had now. Although it was in some ways a small life, Caroline was the queen of her empire, as she had wanted for so long. Her advice was sought after by many of her clients and without the drama of school she was allowed to be the best she could be without anyone trying to belittle her choices. No one ever asked Caroline why it was so important to her that the herbs be organized first by purpose and then alphabetically or whether she really needed to decorate the shop that much for every holiday she could think of. All of that was just part of her work, part of who she was, never something that people would say was a waste of time and just busy work for dumb cheerleaders.

Caroline had many regular clients who were scheduled to come take tea with her once a month each. She had enough clients who exchanged their blood for tea, all of whom came to her for the arrangement, that she never had to hunt. She only took a small amount from each donor, she would carefully cut their arm and drain enough blood for a cup of tea then give them a few drops of her blood in their tea to heal them. Bonnie’s special tea that they drank before the cut made it nearly painless and the one she gave after felt like a warm hug she was told. These tea sessions usually lasted an hour or two and Caroline always baked something special for each of her clients. Some of Caroline’s clients had been with her for years. Each of them were carefully selected and had been told the truth that she was a vampire. She did compel them not to run off before she fully explained herself and what she wanted, and only selected those who would be willing to trade blood for tea without compulsion. Caroline’s sessions were equally honest. Although all of her clients were compelled not to tell a soul she was a vampire, they freely discussed it with her as well as anything else that came to mind. 

“Do you think you can drop by some night this week?” Caroline’s client, Linda, asked. Both Linda and her husband were donors for Caroline. “We’ve got plans to travel next week so John can’t make his usual session but he doesn’t want to miss out on his tea this month.”

“I can just make some for you to bring back with you.” Caroline said. “Don’t worry about the session. I wouldn’t want to intrude on your evening.”

Linda laughed. “You know you wouldn’t be intruding Caroline, and John has been dying to get you to try his new chicken recipe. Just let me know what night works best for you and we’ll send the kids off to their grandparents for a bit.”

Caroline smiled. It was always nice to feel important in people’s lives, even if she had initially compelled her way in. People came to her for advice and asked for her help in planning things, the respect people had for her was something her human self could only dream of. The two women chatted for another few minutes and Caroline sent Linda off with the rest of the cinnamon rolls she’d made for the family. 

“You have tea with your victims?” Klaus asked, amused, leaning against the doorframe looking into the side room where Caroline was cleaning up the table.

“My clients? Yes, I always have tea with them.”

“Just because you don’t kill them doesn’t mean they aren’t victims.” He said trying to get a rise out of her.

“No, their consent makes them not victims.” She told him curtly. “Each of my clients has agreed to the exchange.”

He shrugged. “I suppose. It’s a nice setup anyway. A little too peaceful for my taste but I’ll admit it’s not a bad idea.”

“Thanks.” Caroline said, not even bothering to be polite. She’d known since she walked away from him last time that he was just one of those people she couldn’t keep her professional face on for. “Does Hayley need more tea already?”

“No, I think the little wolf is fine.” Klaus said, seeming completely at ease in stark contrast to how tense he’d been on their previous encounter. “I on the other hand am out of your delightful little blend, did it have a name?”

“Don’t be a dick, Klaus?” Caroline suggested. “I really came up with it on the spot, you were very inspiring.”

Klaus threw his head back and laughed. “Well, it may have worked. I drank all of it this past week and my family says I have been much more enjoyable to be around. Elijah and Rebekah insisted I come back for more. I suppose, if I had some tea now, I might even be able to apologize for how I behaved last time?”

Caroline tried not to smile. “I suppose. Bonnie is out for the rest of the afternoon gathering plants anyway so we aren’t making any new custom blends and I don’t have any other appointments. Grab a seat and we’ll see if I can make you some more ‘I’m sorry’ juice.”

“I prefer the other name.” Klaus called after Caroline as she walked back to the main part of the store. 

Caroline made the tea, got almost an apology, more of an explanation of why Klaus had been such a dick, something about exactly how many people were trying to use his unborn child against him, and when they were done he offered her his wrist. 

“What’s that for?” Caroline asked.

“I thought I was one of your clients today.” He replied.

Caroline shook her head. “You’re too much trouble to be a client. We’ll keep your family in tea, and Rebekah can keep paying me in shoes and protection for my mom, but other than that we don’t need anything from you.”

Klaus thought for a moment. “Well, I don’t like to be in anyone’s debt and I don’t like the idea of Rebekah paying for me. I may not be a client, but as a thank you for your company, and for the tea, I’ll give you one time access to my blood should you need it in the future. It does heal werewolf bites.” He told her.

Caroline’s eyes widened. “Good to know. Hopefully I never need to take you up on that Mr. Mikaelson.”

“Klaus. If you’re going to name a tea after me, you can call me by my first name.”

Caroline smiled and went to finish making up his tin, a much larger one this time. She wrote in her cleanest block writing “DON’T BE A DICK, KLAUS” on the side and noted the ingredients as she did for all blends. 

“I guess you’re welcome to come back.” She told him as she handed it over. “Though you do need to work on your apologies. You’re right, ‘I’m sorry’ definitely wouldn’t be the right name for this one.”

Klaus laughed again. “Remind me not to drink that one if you do make it. I can’t be seen going around apologizing to everyone whose head I bite off.” He winked and left. Caroline went back to sit at the tasting table for a few minutes and started, for only the second time ever, to make her own blend. She thought she’d call this one Maybe We Can Be Friends.

**Author's Note:**

> So Damon turned Caroline just before the first time he met Elena on the night Elena's parents died.
> 
> I have some thoughts about continuing this, but I also felt it could work as a one shot and I have other things I'm working on, so it depends on interest.


End file.
